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Mexicans Ponder Fate Amid Latest DisastersBy Tod RobbersonWashington Post Foreign Service Thursday, October 12, 1995; Page A14 © The Washington Post MANZANILLO, MEXICO, OCT. 11 -- The dark cloud hanging over Mexico these days extends far beyond the swirling mass known as Hurricane Roxanne that wreaked havoc on eastern Yucatan peninsula and the plumes of dust that rose above collapsed buildings in this earthquake-ravaged Pacific Coast resort. The one-two punch of natural disasters this week was only the latest in a long and troublesome series of crises -- spanning political, economic, military and diplomatic fronts -- that have brought this country to the brink of a collective nervous breakdown. "Is it a message from God? Who knows?" said Mario de la Madrid, 32, a lawyer and Mexican Red Cross coordinator helping identify corpses as they were removed from the Hotel Costa Real, which collapsed during a major earthquake Monday. Tuesday, more than 20,000 residents and vacationers were forced to evacuate the Caribbean island of Cozumel and the Yucatan resorts of Cancun and Merida, ahead of Roxanne's 110-mph winds. Phone service and flights to Cozumel were cut off for most of today. The national oil company, Pemex, evacuated oil workers and suspended all operations at its busiest production facility in the Yucatan city of Campeche. With winds reduced to 75 mph after landfall, Roxanne was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico, where it was expected to regain strength. Here, the death toll stands at 60 dead and well over 100 wounded from an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. At least six more corpses were pulled today from beneath tons of concrete at the Costa Real. Surveying the damage across Manzanillo today, de la Madrid recalled the series of political assassinations and civil unrest that dogged Mexico throughout 1994, followed by the economic crisis that began with the collapse of the peso in December. "I think the politicians and nature are taking turns every other year beating up on Mexico," he said. As Mexico slowly crawls out from the wreckage of a ravaged economy, foreign tourism has provided one of the few consistent sources of hope, keeping dollars flowing in, hotels full and people employed. But top government officials now fear that international television broadcasts depicting Mexico's most popular beachside playgrounds in a state of ruin will send foreign tourists packing for safer venues in other countries. Today, reporters and photographers were banned from approaching the Costa Real. Other parts of the city showed widespread evidence of heavy damage. The Manzanillo airport was so structurally unsafe that ticketing and reception areas were cordoned off because the entire foundation buckled and concrete fell from the ceiling. At the five-star Sierra Radisson Hotel, deep fissures running the entire height of the 10-story structure forced managers to close off a 100-room wing and turn away foreign guests. Some 10,000 people were homeless here and in neighboring Jalisco state. "The Virgin of Guadalupe has abandoned Mexico," poet and environmentalist Homero Aridjis told the Reuter news service, referring to Mexico's Catholic patron saint. "We used to say that Mexico has so many inherent dangers that only the Virgin protected us from the worst. That appears to no longer be the case." Man-made disasters have exacerbated Mexico's problems. As President Ernesto Zedillo departed Monday for a four-day visit to Washington and New York, the Mexico City stock market plummeted around 3 percent, while the peso began a steep slide to reach a six-month low of 6.8 to the dollar. A political cartoon in today's edition of the Mexico City newspaper Reforma illustrated the ongoing headaches facing Zedillo as he attempts to woo Washington politicians and New York investors while his country digs itself out from dual natural disasters. The cartoon depicts God atop a cloud, wielding lightning bolts aimed down at Mexico, while an angel relays a message from below: "Hold on a minute. They want to negotiate a rescheduling of any upcoming hurricanes, cyclones and earthquakes."
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